Here's my kit - Is this a good start?

[StarCityBrewMaster]

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit-w-better-bottle.html

I have been looking at all of the brew stores and feel that this is the best deal for the money. I'll need a kettle and a clip on thermometer and should be ready to brew.

Also with this kit I am correct in thinking that I will be able to start a second batch in the bucket fermenter while one is resting in the carboy correct?

Honest opinions on this are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[PolishLogic]

Looks sound to me. I'd add another airlock, a test glass for your hydrometer readings, and a bottle of Star-san just to round it out if I were you.

And yes, you're correct in thinking you can eventually rack from the bucket to the carboy to start up another batch in the bucket. Although, the whole "should you do it", "why do it", "when to do it", etc. is a hotly debated subject.

 

[kidsmakeyoucrazy]

I got my kit from midwest as well (thanks Santa!). I got the "everything" kit with a glass carboy and an ingredient kit. Well, I've used the carboy once in 4 brews, and that was mainly so I could free up my bucket for another batch. I'm glad I got it, but now that I've read some information about brewing, I've come to the conclusion that for most styles it is simply not necessary to transfer to a secondary.

 

[Nurmey]

Midwest brewing kits are the ones I have recommended most often. There may be some upgrading and additions you add to it but all the pieces can be used for years.

The nice thing about having a secondary is that you can start a new batch sooner. After a few years, if you are like me, you will have enough primaries to leave multiple batches in your primaries without having to move them.

 

[earwig]

I got the same kit, without the secondary. Some things I bought separate are: a bottle faucet jet to clean the bottles, star-san, a hose brush, a bottle drying tree, a bottle rinser (some device that shoots the sanitizer into the bottles when you press the bottle on it), a floating thermometer, a clip-on thermometer for the brew pot, a turkey baster and some oxy-clean for cleaning everything before sanitizing.

 

[kidsmakeyoucrazy]

I'll say one more thing about midwest. I'm a cheap bastard. When I was looking for my kit I researched all the online sites and after factoring in shipping, the midwest kit was by far the best deal. I got a fermenter, bottling bucket, glass carboy, carboy and bottle brushes, airlock, stoppers, caps, capper, autosiphon, hydrometer, stick on thermometer, 48 bottles, 5 gallon pot and an ingredient kit for just shy of $200 shipped....it's hard to beat that.

Of course I've probably spent another $100 on equipment since then. A bottle tree is nice (especially if you can't use your dishwasher because it's full of dishes....happens when you have kids). And the "vinator" or "sulphiter" bottle santitzer thing is just awesome. Just fill it with diluted starsan or whatever solution you're using and push the bottle down on it. Then there's the stir starter, the erlenmyer flask....the copper tubing I'm probably going to buy Saturday...

 

[KevinW]

Looks good so far plus some good advice from the others as well and you'll be on your way. I got a couple of cheap(priced) thermometers from Harbor Freight tools.
I also invested in a bottling tree and vinator for bottling, I love them both. They make bottling so easy and I have not had an infected bottle yet!

Happy brewing!

 

[doug1395]

looks good but i did not see a jumbo spoon

 

[Gridlocked]

That's the kit I started with and love it. If you have a bit of extra $ laying around, I would suggest a reusable grain bag ($4.25), a 2nd air lock ($1.25) and 2nd stick-on thermometer ($2.25) for the Better Bottle.

I just got one of THESE 18" plastic spoons and it's absolutely worth the $3.00.

And THIS hydrometer test jar comes in handy for $5.00

Total $15.75 extra

 

[glenn514]

You may want to do three things:

#1: ADD a "wine thief" so you can easily draw samples to test with your hydrometer.

#2: Exchange the 5 gallon Better Bottle for a 6 gallon Better Bottle. Then, if you want to ferment in the BB, you can! [The 5 gallon BB doesn't have enough "head space" to use as a fermenting vessel.]

#3: Take either the fermenting bucket lid OR the BB #10 stopper to the hardware, and get some tubing that will fit snugly in either the lid hole or into the stopper hole. Buy about 4-5 feet of tubing and use as a "blowoff" tube for the first several days of fermentation.

Everything else looks good to go! When are you brewing?

glenn514